Can we talk Christmas trees

[Jason]

Thanks for all the great advice - I knew Christmas trees can be a faff, but never appreciated just how much.
Wish me luck in the buying, as Mrs Jason can be very fussy :-)

 

[swee'pea99]

We have the same and having tried 3 over a number of years, this one is the best.

+1. Excellent bit of kit. Really easy to use, holds the tree perfectly upright, rock solid, and the water trough works perfectly to keep the tree in good nick. Not cheap, but we've had ours probably five or six years now and it's 'as new'.

 

[summerdays]

Thanks for all the great advice - I knew Christmas trees can be a faff, but never appreciated just how much.
Wish me luck in the buying, as Mrs Jason can be very fussy :-)

That sounds like me .... that's what drove Mr Summerdays to buy the potted one so he didn't have to go through that agony every year

 

[Milkfloat]

Do these trees, when grown as a crop in plantations, support a truly diverse ecology?

Not really - good for carbon footprint whilst growing and terrible when disposing of them. In fact it is better for the environment to have an artificial tree.

Edit - compared to a cut tree. Best of all would be a real tree with roots that you can plonk back outside.

 

[Milkfloat]

Which are made of plastic, you're going to have to plant quite a few trees to offset that much carbon

"
Dr John Kazer, at the Carbon Trust, says an average artificial tree was made of plastic which comes from oil. This accounts for two thirds of its carbon footprint.

Another quarter of its environmental impact comes from the industrial emissions produced when the tree is manufactured.

He said a 2m artificial tree has a carbon footprint equivalent to 40kg of greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than twice that of a real tree that ends its life in landfill - and more than 10 times that of real trees that are burnt."

So - seeing as most real trees are dumped in landfill, you only need to reuse the artificial tree for 3 years to be better for the environment. Our artificial tree is more than 10 years old, so despite using up lots of oil I am an eco-warrior.

 

[summerdays]

"
Dr John Kazer, at the Carbon Trust, says an average artificial tree was made of plastic which comes from oil. This accounts for two thirds of its carbon footprint.

Another quarter of its environmental impact comes from the industrial emissions produced when the tree is manufactured.

He said a 2m artificial tree has a carbon footprint equivalent to 40kg of greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than twice that of a real tree that ends its life in landfill - and more than 10 times that of real trees that are burnt."

So - seeing as most real trees are dumped in landfill, you only need to reuse the artificial tree for 3 years to be better for the environment. Our artificial tree is more than 10 years old, so despite using up lots of oil I am an eco-warrior.

Aren't most real trees composted?

 

[Beebo]

Aren't most real trees composted?

The council take ours away, if we saw it in half, i presume it is either composed or goes into the incinerator to make electricity.

 

[summerdays]

The council take ours away, if we saw it in half, i presume it is either composed or goes into the incinerator to make electricity.

Our's have a specific collection date when you are meant to put out your trees to be recycled, usually shortly after 6th Jan

 

[slowmotion]

Not really - good for carbon footprint whilst growing and terrible when disposing of them. In fact it is better for the environment to have an artificial tree.

Edit - compared to a cut tree. Best of all would be a real tree with roots that you can plonk back outside.

When alive, conifers outgas methane. They also emit turpenes which, when combined with NOx from vehicle emissions, produce ozone. It's quite a complicated picture, not just simple CO2 absorption.

 

[postman]

Can we talk to Christmas trees,no but we could sing.

View: https://youtu.be/_XEPUmV7iy0

 

[Jason]

Our artificial tree is at least 12 years old, and I was leaning towards getting it out of the loft for 1 more hoorah, but the Mrs is adamant she wants a real one .... Until she surf stumbled upon luxury trees from posh department stores up there, in that West London !!!!!

 

[Fnaar]

We (the now ex-Mrs Fnaar an I) always used to get a real one ... when the kids were younger, I loved taking them out to the place in the countryside, six miles away, where you'd pick up a saw from the office/trailer, and walk out into the forest to cut your own down ... that was such fun

 

[Stephenite]

The trees for sale in Norway are imported from Denmark!

 

[Sillyoldman]

I heard a tale that a tree was dug up from the garden for its yearly trip indoors but in the soil ball was a red ant nest and the little blighters were everywhere in the room.

 

[Deafie]

Not really - good for carbon footprint whilst growing and terrible when disposing of them. In fact it is better for the environment to have an artificial tree.

Edit - compared to a cut tree. Best of all would be a real tree with roots that you can plonk back outside.

I heard a show on the radio a few years back and the enviromentalist was saying just the opposite. He was against artificial trees and very much in favour of real trees, which suprised me.